I am a newbie so not much help, but I did grow New Day last year and LOVED it. It looks like it made it through the winter with some die back but I did not winter protect at all (with last year being my first year I just kind of wanted to see what would happen and what would survive, I do plan to winter protect this year) Here are two New Day blooms in a bouquet with Double Delight, Headliner, and a few other soft pinks (probably Bewitched) and Lady X. If New Day had not made it through the winter I would definitely be replacing it because of the few yellows I planted last year this one was the prettiest with beautifully shaped blooms. I am no help with New Zealand, just looked it up on hmf because of all of the praise in this post, it does look like a nice soft baby pink and I would love to add it at some point. You'll have to keep us posted how it turns out if you decide on that one. New Year has always looked pretty to me on hmf, I bought one last year but it was mislabeled. I just bought one this year so hopefully I can give it a go. Never thought I would enjoy those oranges as much as I did last year since I'm a soft colors fan, but I really wanted to give New Year a go and couldn't pass it up when I saw it last week in one of those bagged pots. We'll see. Thanks for your suggestion to not dig up stuff so early in that other post about SPing. I had no idea that some could show life as last as June, and that if it did come back I could replant deeper. I thought it was done when that bud union went through one of our winters above ground! Fortunately I only pulled out a few that showed no life but the rest I'm iffy on I will leave in and let spring work its magic.

Hi Guys & Gals! These temps here on the east coast have really been horrible. I haven't felt cold temps like this since long ago on the Tarmac in Canada for work. I'm talking bone Chilling temps . I was flying during these days in the northeast and the temps were in the -5 degree with windchills in the -25 degree mark. Seriously, it doesn't work for me. I took off the heels and wore boots for the three days . Brrrr. I lost one palm tree so far , So sad... Picked up a nasty head cold just for fun! Thank you guys for the nice comments. I needed these blooms to help me with these nasty cold temps. ( head cold too) Rox.. I love your blooms, sooo cool! Always wanted a salt water tank. Love them. love your pics. A boat ride will be wonderful. Thank you! :-) I use Foliage Pro on my trees. Love this program...start in the spring end in the fall Thank you Chuy! ;-) Mahalo, Mark! So kind . Thank you Sultry... Hi Jen! I'm pleased to have Inflos right now. The colors are not as vivid, but I still love them.. Kapalua has two Inflos... Wonder what they will look like. Embers has one pushing right now too. We shall see! Andrew.. Hey! butterfly Gold turned out to be something else, but the seller was great about the mix up. One day, I will find one. She thinks that is Texas Beauty.. Sparky is a beauty, especially in summer. Thanks ! Hi Bill, Thank you for the well wishes, I hope you and S have a wonderful New Year too! Glad to hear you all are having a mild winter. We are having swinging temps from one end to the other. Today it was 70degrees. Unbelievable.. Check out Princess Victoria without the splash... This was a few days ago. Still pretty to me, but no splash. Interesting. ( I did have the streaking this summer... It was beautiful! ) Take care, Laura This post was edited by loveplants2 on Sat, Jan 11, 14 at 22:07

Angelaid, I love potato pancakes but I would say that is is my favourite version. There is no secret to making these pancakes. I've made them with mashed potatoes that I made specifically for making these pancakes and I've also made extra mashed potatoes for dinner and saved the leftovers for these pancakes. When I make them with the leftover mashed potatoes there is also butter in the mix. This is not a stiff or thick batter. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop up the batter. Mere Blanc's Potato Pancakes From:www.thedailyspud.com with very minor changes. 2 small baking potatoes 1/4 cup milk 1/3 cup All-Purpose flour 2 eggs, separated 1-1/2 tablespoons heavy cream Pinch of salt Pepper Fresh chives (or green onions) Butter for frying Cook potatoes until tender Mash with a little milk. Let potatoes cool before adding the remaining milk, cream, flour, egg yolks, salt, pepper and chives. Beat Egg Whites until stiff. Fold into potato mixture. Do not over mix. This is a light but thick batter. Heat a griddle or skillet. ( I used a rectangle electric frying pan) . Brush with butter. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup drop batter on to griddle. Cook until pancakes are brown and then flip. Serve with sour cream. Here is a link that might be useful: Potato Pancakes

An old family superstition is that whatever you do on New Year's Day you will wind up doing for the rest of the year. So I hope I get to fit something in that I enjoy such as sewing. I tried to get the laundry caught up yesterday but pooped out with this bronchial cough. My energy is just zapped because of it and some other things going on recently. I did get to Joann's Monday with my Christmas gift certificate and lucked out on batting - fifty percent off. Then I had some forty percent off coupons and got 7 yards of unbleached muslin (120 inch wide) for backings. The regular width was on sale but not the wide. I would have gotten some wide printed backings but they were all picked out. Also got some deals on thread, so I bought a couple of large spools of the Guitterman cotton, it doesn't shed lint like the cheaper brands. Yesterday I tried my hand at a tote bag - the one using charms on the Missouri Star site. I had to watch the video over a couple of times with the construction of it, especially the part where you sew the lining to the bag - I'm kind of sewing-challenged in that category, never was much of a fashion sewer - can't follow directions very well. I watched the other one using jelly rolls and intend to try that one, too.